Enchanted
by MissDevon
Summary: AU-John finds Natalie at Brody's in time to stop them & they start to discuss a future. Jess misinterperts things, Marty finds someone in her bed,dif paternity questions arise causing probs for Jolie, Nat/Jess, and Marty to unravel
1. Chapter 1

_**Enchanted**_

_Chapter1_

Natalie pulled back from Brody's kiss sure if she wanted to slap him or continue. She wanted someone to hold her and tell her it would be all right, but it wasn't Brody who she wanted.  
Pressing her fingers against her lips, she tried to hold back her tears. "Tell me you want this. Don't want to be with someone who'll take away the pain," Brody pressed as he bracketed her arms with his strong hands, trying to seduce her into taking away his pain as he moved his hands harshly up over her shoulders to her chest and tearing her blouse as her breath quickened.  
Taking it as a sign of consent, he moved to quickly unfasten the front closure of her bra before she'd refuse him.

"If she does it isn't you?" John's voice said from the doorway, and undertone of anger in it.

"Private conversation," Brody shot back unashamed, as Natalie looked at the man who held her heart with panic shining in her eyes as she pulled her shirt hastily close.

"Then you should have locked the door or were you hoping that it would be Jessica who would walk in on you instead?" John asked as he came into the room and pulled the door closed behind him. , his fist balled at his sides. "Why didn't you wait for me?" he asked focusing his attention on Natalie and purposely ignoring Brody to try to keep his temper under control.

Swallowing, Natalie looked at him uncomfortably: "I went to the police station. Saw you had made your decision and it wasn't me."

"What?" John asked, then shook his head: "Marty, had your letter. She kept it from me till after midnight. When she finally gave it to me, I read it and I let her know that… well, since she had already read it she knew what I would do, that's why she didn't give it to me to begin with… What you saw was me kissing her goodbye."

"Funny, isn't that what you told her about what she walked in on us doing on the mountain?"

"If that were true, why have I been running all over town trying to track you down?" John shot back.

Brody laughed: "Clearly she doesn't you anymore!" he said looping his arms around her waist.

John rolled his eyes: "Clearly her self destructive streak has kicked in," John corrected automatically.

"Clearly she's still in the room and doesn't need either of you two jackasses speaking for her!" Natalie said angrily as she pulled out of Brody's hold with disgust. "I can make my own decisions!

"Damnit, Natalie!" John started. "You don't have to pretend.  
I saw all you had to drink for dutch courage.  
How could you think I wouldn't come?"

"She doesn't want you!" Brody all but crowed.

Wheeling on Brody, Natalie glared at him: "Don't you DARE presume to tell ANYONE what I want! You don't know me well enough to Brody!  
I'm not Jessica!  
I can make my own decisions.  
I can make my own mistakes, and I can live and deal with them and the repercussions!  
I want JOHN," she added as she shot the man in question a look over her shoulder and then turned her attention back to Brody. "Brody, that kiss was a mistake.  
A drunken, stupid mistake that should have never happened.  
I need to…. John and I need to talk."

"Then leave," Brody said angrily, heading to pour himself another drink.

John laughed at him harshly: "You put the moves on my woman and you're telling me to leave? I don't think so!  
We're not the ones who are leaving," he told Brody, to Natalie's surprise, as well as Brody's. "We're using your apartment so we can talk without being interrupted and can straighten things out.  
You can use my place for the night."

"You think you can order me around in my place?" Brody asked angrily, spoiling for a fight.

Natalie sighed tiredly: "Please, Brody? We have no place to go. We need to... I don't know…"

"His place is down the hall!"

"And Marty has a key and can walk into it at any time she wants to.  
I am not putting her or Natalie through that.  
Besides you need to sleep this bender you're on off.  
You can do it at my place.  
Let's go.  
Natalie, hit the shower to sober up. I'll grab you something you can change into from my place," he said trying to remain calm as he pulled Brody after him and shut the door behind him to give her some privacy.

Swallowing, Natalie sunk to the edge of the bed and wrapped her arms around her, trying to pull the ragged edges of her shirt together.

She had to admit, the idea of the shower sounded good and she wanted to wash away Body's touch and scent, but she knew she'd only end up smelling more like him, or at best, Jessica if she gave into the urge, but how could she let John touch with Brody's touch still dirtying and degrading her?


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

John walked into Brody's apartment, locking the door behind him and tossing the keys he had taken from the drunken man on the end table.

Looking at the bed, he was glad to know that the sheets were new and clean. That had been Brody's prom 'gift' to teen Jess. A new beginning, only it wouldn't be for the former St. Ann's patients but for him and Natalie, even if it was for them to sleep on.  
He wouldn't push her.  
He just wanted to let her know that he still loved her.  
Had never stopped.  
Wanted to hold her in his arms and know that unless a case kept them apart at night, he would be doing so for years to come.

Dropping a LPD shirt that he knew Natalie had a tendency to steal from his drawer to sleep in on the edge of the bed, he kicked out of his shoes and socks and undid his belt, then continued to strip as he walked towards the bedroom, half listening to the shower as it ran as he balanced the bottle of shampoo/body wash she had left behind when she had moved out along with matching body lotion. As he stepped into the bathroom, he heard her tears mix with the running water.  
Putting the containers on the edge of the tub he frowned at the amount of steam in the room and pulled back the curtain. His heart fell when he saw her sitting on the floor, head on her raised knees, her skin starting to turn raw, and already red from the heat of the spray.

"Damnit, Natalie," he muttered as he stepped in behind her and adjusted the water to a less blistering temperature, before pulling her to her feet and gently turning her around so that her head slipped into the crock of his shoulders and her tears fell easily there.

Gently, he started to wash her with the shampoo and body wash combination he'd brought in and, enjoying how she melted into his touch as he washed away the tension in her shoulders and elsewhere while allowing him to hold her against his body slowly as he soothed her with quiet words as he turned her to face him, he laid gentle kisses on her forehead and along her neck.  
It wasn't long before she put her hand on his chest, sliding her leg between his, the position familiar and comforting as the warm water beat down on her, easing her pain and tension, the same as his hands did. "Is this real?" she asked him in a dazed whisper.

"I hope so," he replied simply as he smiled down at her, and smoothed her wet hair back from her face with one hand while he lifted her chin with the other for a kiss filled with a purpose he couldn't restrain.

"We have to talk," she sighed as they pulled apart for air, even as she leaned into him and then reluctantly pulled away from him: "but I don't want to lose this moment," she admitted even as she allowed her hands to wonder over familiar places, lingering unconsciously on ones she knew excited him.

"Then let me say what I think is the most important thing to say…"

"John…" she started to protest uneasily.

"I was late because Marty manipulated me," he told her as he place a finger on her lips to silence her.

"You were right about her.  
But we were wrong about so many other things these past three years.  
I should never have let you go," he admitted as he dropped his finger, so he could use both hands to pull her close to him. "I have no idea what we've been doing all this time," he continued as he leaned his head against hers, "but above all others I choose you."

"Promise?" Natalie asked.

"If you do."

Reaching up, she slicked back his hair, enjoying the feel of it against her hands and his body against hers as she leaned further into him. "What do you think I was saying in that letter, McBain?"

"What can I say, sometimes I'm a little slow on the uptake?" he said as he slid his hands down to her waist. "But who saids I'm the only one?" he added pulling her flush against him.

"I want… I want to, but… his touch…" she whimpered, shying slightly away from him in embarrassment.

"You washed that away long before I got back.  
You were almost raw."

"Still… smell…" she swallowed uneasily.

"Is yours," he said, then clarified at her look of confusion: "You left soap and shampoo at the apartment, I grabbed it and the lotion that went with it on my way back here, didn't you recognize the scent?" he teased as he kissed her forehead.

Natalie shrugged, slightly embarrassed: "I changed brands after we broke up. The scent reminded me of you- us—this…"

"This?" he asked.

She swallowed: "not here…"

John nodded and reached behind her to turn off the water then stepped out and wrapped her in a bath towel, gently drying her skin before picking her up and out of the tub. "They're new. So are the sheets."

"I don't need the image of Brody seducing my mentally challenged sister in the other room because it's prom night," she chided as she leaned into his touch, turned on by his hands over the towels, like a game they'd once played.

"Then let's pretend it's our prom night. Neither of us went… let me give you that fantasy, even if it's not in our place."

"Prom night fantasy? Ummmm. No," she retorted, a smile crossing her face at his reaction.

"No?"

"Some other night. Maybe at the Palace?" she suggested. "I mean you wouldn't take your date to a dive."

John smirked: "fine, but not the Palace. Some place in AC, after dinner and dancing. You in a dress- preferably a blue halter to show off your eyes and other attributes.  
But for now, a fresh start, even if it is in someone else's room.  
There's a locked door so we won't be interrupted.  
You in my arms where you belong.  
Us loving each other with no interruptions.  
No baggage.  
Just us.  
Only us making new memories."

Natalie smiled at that, getting into the mood he was setting: "you are all wet, can I dry you off now?"

"Not here.  
We stay in here, we're not making it to that bed…"

"Hmmm… who needs a bed? Nice wall behind you," she shot back causing him to step towards the closed, locked door as things started to heat up between them.

"I'm not the one who's going to end up against the wall, Natalie," he challenged, as she continued to use the towel he had on her to touch him without really touching him.

"Wanna bet?" she asked as he groaned when she managed to touch exactly where he needed to be touched and where only she knew about.

Laughing at the glint in her eyes, he leaned in to kiss her passionately, his hands quickly going to her hips and lower, causing her to drop the towel and moan into his mouth.

Quickly, he lifted her and turned her so his body pinned her to the wall as he clasped her hands with his, raising them above her head as he started kissing her neck and entered her, her moan all the confirmation he needed that this was right and not too fast. "You're mine," he gasped into her ear. "Always and forever mine. Say it.  
Admit it."

"I'm yours and you're mine," she gasped into his kiss. "Admit that too."

"Above all others I choose you.  
Forever.  
Always.  
Mine," he grunted as he pushed her harder against the wall, his thrusts faster and more urgent, even as she moved seductively against him, urging him on as he moved his lips down her neck and bit her lightly, taking pleasure in her moan of passion as he felt her go over the edge, pulling him with her…


End file.
